Hiraki Sawa, still from home, 2017–2021. Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan GalleryRochester, NY, April 22, 2025—The Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) is pleased to present Hiraki Sawa: /home, a video installation by internationally acclaimed artist Hiraki Sawa, on view now through September 21, 2025, in the Media Arts Watch Gallery.

In Hiraki Sawa’s single-channel video, /home, a variety of airplanes take off, fly, and land in rooms and corridors, past peeling wallpaper, worn carpeting, and other signs of a long tenancy. The setting for this video is the artist’s vacant childhood home in Japan, immediately after his parents sold it and relocated. The experience of walking through the empty house reminded him of his mental attachment to each room and the finality of never being able to return to the home as it once was. The planes serve as powerful symbols for a family that was once united under one roof and is now connected through shared history, memory, and the travel that is necessary to be reunited.

About the Artist

Hiraki Sawa is known for video works that merge memory, personal history, and real and imagined worlds. His work has been exhibited internationally at institutions such as the Museo Universidad de Navarra (Pamplona, Spain), VINCOM Center for Contemporary Art (Hanoi, Vietnam), ICA London, Kadist Art Foundation (Paris), the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC), and the Mori Art Museum (Tokyo). Sawa lives and works in London.

About the Memorial Art Gallery

The Memorial Art Gallery showcases art from antiquity to the present day, including the outdoor public Centennial Sculpture Park. In addition to its permanent collection, MAG offers a year-round schedule of special exhibitions, lectures, concerts, tours, after-hours social events, and family activities. Learn more about the Memorial Art Galler.

Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 11:00 am–5:00 pm, Thursdays & Second Fridays, 11:00 am–8:00 pm. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Admission: $20; senior citizens, $18; college students with ID and children 6–18, $9. Always free to members, University of Rochester faculty, staff, students, and children five and under. Half-price general admission on Thursdays 5:00–8:00 pm is made possible by Monroe County. Discounted admission tickets are available when purchasing online. For more information, call 585.276.8900 or visit mag.rochester.edu

Press contact: Paige Engard, Marketing & PR Specialist: 585.474.7695 / pengard@mag.rochester.edu

ASSOCIATED IMAGES:

Photo 1: Hiraki Sawa, still from /home, 2017–2021. Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

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